BRIEFCASE.Byline: -- Staff and Wire Services Inflation worry takes Dow toll NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of -- Wall Street stumbled Wednesday, pulling the Dow Jones Dow Jones the best known of several U.S. indexes of movements in price on Wall Street. [Am. Hist.: Payton, 202] See : Finance industrials down nearly 90 points after minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent meeting indicated the central bank is not ruling out an interest rate hike to curb inflation. The minutes, coupled with a jump in gasoline prices, heightened investor worries about inflation and drove an already sagging stock market even lower. Investors are growing increasingly anxious that rates may rise, which could limit corporate profits and consumer spending Consumer demand or consumption is also known as personal consumption expenditure. It is the largest part of aggregate demand or effective demand at the macroeconomic level. and further weaken the housing market by making mortgages more expensive. Wall Street had been hoping instead that the central bank might lower rates because of the slowing economy; the Fed's recent statements accompanying its rate decisions have indicated it was closely watching the economy's direction and leaving open the possibility of a rate cut. But the minutes released Wednesday showed the Fed was remaining steadfast in its vigilance against inflation. Settlement OK'd by loan provider NEW YORK -- The nation's largest student loan provider will stop offering perks to college employees as part of a settlement announced Wednesday in a widening probe of the student loan industry. SLM See service level management system and spatial light modulator. Corp., commonly known as Sallie Mae Sallie Mae: see SLM Corporation. , also agreed to pay $2 million into a fund to educate students and parents about the financial aid industry, and it will adopt a code of conduct created by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is heading the probe. Cuomo said the expanding investigation of the $85 billion student loan industry has found numerous arrangements that benefited schools and lenders at the expense of students. Investigators say lenders have provided all-expense-paid trips to exotic locations for college financial aid officers who then directed students to the lenders. Investigators found that many colleges have established "preferred lender" lists and entered into revenue sharing revenue sharing Funding arrangement in which one government unit grants a portion of its tax income to another government unit. For example, provinces or states may share revenue with local governments, or national governments may share revenue with provinces or states. and other financial arrangements with those lenders. No hedge-fund change needed WASHINGTON -- The current market-based system is the best way to regulate the trillion-dollar hedge fund hedge fund, in finance, a highly speculative, largely unregulated investment device. Originating in the 1950s, the funds "hedge" by offsetting "short" positions (borrowing a security and then selling it at a higher price before repaying the lender) against "long" industry although improvements can be made, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday. Bernanke, speaking to a conference on global economics in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , said that the current system is superior to increased government regulation. That view is at odds with critics who say large failures in recent years highlight the need for greater supervision. Bernanke noted that the collapse of a Connecticut hedge fund, Long-Term Capital Management Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM) was a hedge fund founded in 1994 by John Meriwether (the former vice-chairman and head of bond trading at Salomon Brothers). On its board of directors were Myron Scholes and Robert C. , came during a period of severe financial stress in 1998. He said Congress correctly rejected suggestions after that failure to impose greater government regulations. He said in the last 10 years the ways investors have to manage risks "have become considerably more sophisticated." |
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